


Broken Origins

by Alfreds_Mustache



Series: Robin Hood (Broken Origins) [1]
Category: Batman - All Media Types, DCU
Genre: Backstory, Canonical Character Death, Dick falls with them, Dick loves his parents, Family, Family Feels, Family Fluff, Haly's Circus, Hurt Dick Grayson, Injury Recovery, Major Character Injury, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Physical Disability, Robin Hood References, Romani Dick Grayson, Sad, The Flying Graysons - Freeform, Young Dick Grayson, name origins
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-23
Updated: 2019-09-23
Packaged: 2020-10-26 13:02:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 1,661
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20742632
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Alfreds_Mustache/pseuds/Alfreds_Mustache
Summary: All that little Richard Grayson had wanted that morning was his Mami's home-cooked waffles and chocolate milk.That evening, all that little Richard Grayson wanted was to feel something--anything--other than pain.Now, as he wakes up in a hospital bed, confused and numb, all that little Richard Grayson wants is death, because nothing in his life is worth more than what he'd just lost.Now, all that kindhearted Bruce Wayne wants is to show little Richard Grayson how to put himself back together again.*(Edit: 9/24/2019. I changed the summary, that's it.)





	1. Waffles & Chocolate Milk

**Author's Note:**

> Discalimer: If you recognize it, it doesn't belong to me. All rights go to DC Comics.
> 
> Enjoy!

** _“So passed the seasons then, so they pass now, and so they will pass in time to come, while we come and go like leaves of the tree that fall and are soon forgotten.”_ **

** _\- Robin Hood Aids a Sorrowful Knight_ **

* * *

The crowd’s cheers of excitement were deafening, the stage lights near blinding, and the smell of popcorn mixed with hay was equally tantalizing as it was nauseating.

This was Richard’s least favorite part of the show; waiting with anxious anticipation for their cue to start as soon as Haley was done introducing the act. As he stood on the platform, already beginning to sweat under the heavy glare of the multi-colored stage lights. He knew that if his palms weren’t currently dusted with powdery grip-chalk they would definitely be slick with nervous sweat. He flexed his fingers, absently cracking his knuckles.  _ C’mon, Pop… Anytime now… _ He shuffled his legs slightly, allowing himself to be momentarily distracted by the feeling of the textured platform against his bare feet.

A gentle weight on his right shoulder brought Richard from his thoughts. He turned his head to look at his father, whose firm-but-gentle hand supplied him with comforting reassurance. He gave a toothy grin in return, despite his nerves. From Richard’s other side, his mother’s hand -- slender and cold in comparison to his father’s -- brushed against his sweaty forehead before moving to sweep his hair away from his eyes. Where her fingers pushed the ebony locks aside, chalk from her fingers left streaks of white.

“Mami, sto-op!” He whined indignantly, pushing her smothering hand out of his face. “You’re  _ ruindu-mi parul!" _ (ruining my hair)

Though she retracted her hand, she did nothing to hold back or disguise her amused laughter. Richard pouted and crossed his arms, shrugging off his father’s hand in the process.

“I think the chalk’s  _ o îmbunătățire _ ,” (an improvement) his father said squinting in mock-seriousness, using his index fingers and thumbs to “frame” his son’s face as though sizing up a work of art. “It makes you look...distinguished,” his hands moved to rest on his lithe hips.

“Dis...tinguished?” Richard’s eyebrows drew together in confusion at the unfamiliar word.

“One word: distinguished.”

His mother smiled patiently at him after meeting her husband’s eyes. “Mature, older;  _ distins _ .” (distinguished)

“Like an old man,” his father added, chuckling.

“Hey!” Richard glared half-heartedly, letting out a huff, “I am  _ not  _ distinguished.” Then, with a sudden mischievous glint in his eyes, one that his parents were very familiar with,“I’m…  _ tinguished _ .”

His mother gave him a playful eyeroll and his father -- with the same mischievous glint in his eye that he’d so obviously passed down to his son -- placed his own chalk-dusted hand heavily atop Richard’s head, making sure to give his hair an unnecessarily-rigorous ruffling in the process.

“Gah!  _ Ta--tiiiii! _ ” (Da-aaaaaad) Richard whined in between bursts of uncontrollable giggles. 

“Richard,  _ pui _ ,” (baby/darling) His mother’s soft voice next to his ear broke through his giggling. “Get ready.”

_ “And now…” _

He blushed at the pet name, suddenly filled with conflicting feelings of embarrassment, love, and excitement. “ _ Bine, mami, _ ” (Okay, mom/mommy) he responded bashfully, reaching out to grasp her hand (if he weren’t standing before hundreds of strangers, he would have hugged her) with a nervous smile on his lips. She squeezed his hand gently with her own, smiling at him with her eyes more than her lips; it conveyed nothing but love, confidence, and faith. He bit his lip anxiously.

_ “...for tonight’s Grand Finale…” _

His father placed his hand on his forearm reassuringly. “Just like we practiced.”

Richard nodded, taking a deep breath to calm his rattling nerves. He could do this.

_ “...The one...The only....” _

Smiling a little more genuinely now, he turned to his mother. Something had been bothering him all day, and he figured that now was as good a time as any. “Mami?”

“ _ In liniste, pui, _ ” (Quietly, darling) she reminded him with another squeeze to his hand. “What is it?”

He swallowed; no backing out now. The glint in his eye returned as he said: “Can we have  _ vafe  _ and  _ ciocolata cu lapte _ for dinner?” (waffles and chocolate milk)

_ “...FLYING GRAYSONS!” _

His father’s surprised laughter was drowned out completely by the cacophonous cheers of the crowd below. His parents let go of him as the spotlight landed on them so they could all wave properly to the audience.

As they waved, Richard’s mother leaned closer to him. “We’ll see,  _ pui _ ,” she smiled brightly -- genuinely, as she always did -- as she responded to his question. Richard gave a blinding grin in return, knowing that her answer was as good as an “absolutely”.

“... _ Vom vedea _ .”

(We will see.)


	2. Robin Hood

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is a fluffy flashback. Includes LOTS of cuddling, and Dick's tati reads "Robin Hood" to him before bed. <3
> 
> Disclaimer: If you recognize it, it doesn't belong to me. All rights go to DC Comics.
> 
> Enjoy!

** _“[H]e would stand still and listen to the pretty song of the little birds in the thickets…, whereat he would laugh, for it took but little to tickle Robin’s heart into merriment.”_ **

** _ ** _\- Robin Hood Turns Beggar_ ** _ **

* * *

_ “So, ‘Sir’ Richard,” Richard’s father entered their tight sleeping quarters, already dressed in plain cotton pyjamas and readied for bed. In his calloused hands was a simple, reasonably-sized book. Soft flickers of light danced across its worn, green cover and yellowing pages as his father stepped toward Richard, already tucked snugly into the bed they all shared. “Where shall our  _ aventură  _ be on this fine  _ noapte _ ?” (adventure)(night) _

_ The bed squeaked and groaned in protest under his father’s weight as he maneuvered around Richard’s small frame to curl up beside him, as comfortably as the cramped space would allow. _

_ Richard grinned toothily at the nickname -- a name actually taken from the very book they would be reading from tonight (as they made a habit of doing so  _ every  _ night) -- and snuggled eagerly against his father’s side as he situated himself. “How ‘bout…” He thought for a moment, scrunching his nose up in concentration as he did so. “Oh! The one with  _ cavaler _ !” (the knight) He finally responded, excitement tinging his voice. _

_ “ _ Desigur _ ,” (Of course) His father chuckled (for he had known that his son would want to read the chapter of his namesake; it was, after all, Richard’s favorite chapter), thumbing through the dog-eared pages nimbly to find the right chapter. “Ah,” he said at last once he’s found it, “ _ Robin Hood Aids a Sorrowful Knight. _ ” _

_ He settled his back into the pillow and curled an arm around Richard’s sleight shoulders, nestling his boy closer to his side. Obliging happily, Richard nuzzled his face into his father’s sturdy chest and closed his eyes as he began to read. “ ‘So passed the gentle springtime away in budding beauty…’ ” _

_ His father’s chest rumbled liltingly as he spoke, soothing and warm as it tickled Richard’s ear. Slowly, as the undisturbed minutes rolled by, the light of the oil lamp dimmed as the flame reached the end of the wick for the night. Richard fell asleep long before even the middle of the chapter, the steady rise-and-fall of his father’s chest having lulled him gently into unconsciousness. Though he would deny it come morning, his father, too, nodded off before he’d finished reading the chapter aloud.  _

_ (Richard’s mother, once she’d finished cleaning up after dinner, would be the only witness to what her husband would later deny; the sight of her son -- latched to his father’s side like a koala to a tree -- drooling a river onto the hand-stitched cotton pyjamas, combined with the steady sound of his father’s muffled snores against his ebony hair filling the otherwise-tranquil room. She readied herself for a full night’s rest alongside her family, checking the lamp to make sure it was out completely before climbing under the heavy blankets. As she laid her head against the nearest pillow, she tugged the top blanket gently over the slumped figures beside her. Then, finally, in the comfortable darkness of the tiny room, curling herself against Richard’s side and draping a gentle arm across her husband’s drool-free shoulder, she smiled. _

_ “Sweet dreams, pui_.”)_ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading!! Let me know how you like it so far, I'd love to get your opinion on it!!!


	3. Falling

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: If you recognize it, it's not mine. All rights go to DC Comics.
> 
> Regular text = Dick's thoughts  
Bold = poem

** _“Then the crowd, seeing the steel-clad knight and the armed men, melted away like snow on the warm hearth, leaving the young man all bloody and dusty upon the ground."_ **

** _ ** _\- How Sir Richard of the Lea Paid His Debts_ ** _ **

* * *

He remembers flying --

** _“In the blossoming hedge the robin sings, _ **

\-- The rush of wind cooling his flushed cheeks, tousseling his already-mussed hair as he leapt from the platform --

** _For the sun it is merry and bright,_ **

\-- Gasping out breathy giggles in utter delight --

** _And he joyfully hops and he flutters his wings, _ **

\-- He swooped toward his mother’s outstretched hands --

** _For his heart is all full of delight. _ **

\-- Grinning wider than the facepaint-smile of Serge the tightrope-walking clown --

** _For the May bloometh fair, _ **

\-- His father caught him by the ankles as soon as he let go of the bar --

** _And there’s little of care, _ **

\-- Never doubting himself or his parents in the slightest --

** _And plenty to eat in the Maytime rare._ **

\-- Not once experiencing the fear that he’d once felt...when he was first learning to navigate the trapeze at three-years-old --

** _ When the flowers all die,_ **

\-- flipping and twisting effortlessly from bar to bar… ((something’s wrong)) ...as fast as they were swung to him --

** _Then off he will fly,_ **

\-- Catching his mother’s sparkling… ((wait)) ... eye before… ((what’s happening?)) ... spinning… ((something doesn’t feel right)) ...onto his father’s waiting ((something’s WRONG)) shoulders --

** _To keep himself warm,_ **

\-- And then --

** _In some jolly old barn,_ **

\-- What is that -- ? -- there’s something in his stomach -- oh god -- he’s not throwing up -- then why -- ? -- it feels like nerves -- he is nervous -- no -- it’s just butterflies -- which way is up? -- it’s just his nerves -- NO -- it’s not nerves -- it’s -- he doesn’t know what this is -- what’s happening? -- it feels like butterflies -- what was he doing? -- oh god it feels like -- NOT butterflies -- nerves but he isn’t nervous but now he’s getting worried because ohgod what is this feeling what is it WHAT’S HAPPENING -- it’sbutterflies--nerves--up is down-- ohgodohgod ohgodOHGOD -- HE’S --

** _...Where the snow and the wind neither chill him nor harm…”_ **

  
  


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((((( falling )))))

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**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading!!! Poem taken from "Robin Hood"

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading!!!


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